Im pretty sure mario had 4 sacks in 4 games this season as a OLB.. hes so talented that he could be a beast as a DE or OLB

I don't doubt that he CAN do it, but to have a 4-3 that's so dominant is so much more rare, that's why I think it's a waste. It's not about production, it's about the fact that he's wasted when you drop him into space, and you can't rush him on every play if he's a 3-4 OLB. Can't disguise your looks that way. So I believe he absolutely can be effective there, but I've also seen far lesser athletes just dominate from the OLB position simply because the scheme suits them and makes it a bit easier. Mario was a monster 4-3 DE, and now after his injury, I'd want to put him in space even less than I did in the first place.

Sounds like Boykin is elevating his stock a bit too much this week to be there at the end of the 2nd round. I'm really liking some of what I'm reading on these guys and I'm excited that we'll still have a chance to get someone who can make a real impact in round 2.

I was hopeful that Cordy would be there but I am doubting that's going to happen. I know we don't 'need' another LB, but FSU's Nigel Bradham is someone I'd consider in that 2nd round spot if we're really looking to eventually move to a 3-4, Zach Brown is prolly going to go too high for us to be able to snag him, but he'd be my first choice of the LBs.

Washington's NT sounds like exactly what we'd want if we had the chance to move to the 3-4, but I think he'll be long gone before we'd have a chance to pick him up.

Of the RBs Martin and Rainey are my guys. Rainey is really my #1 because I think that dynamic of a playmaker out there on the field would give us the potential to run little dumpoffs and screens that would end up being big plays. But if we move Turner, or are looking for someone to eventually step up and replace him, I'd be happy to have Martin as the guy who ends up splitting carries with Quizz.

The guy who this week has solidified himself in the 2nd round for me is Harrison Smith. Replacing Decoud with Smith would be a major upgrade in my opinion. Smith has great ball skills and just can flat out play, he's not elite at anything but he's very good at everything and that's what I'd love to have back there along with Moore, so he could take more risks and have a chance to make an even bigger impact.

After watching Isiah Pead, I like that guy. He's got a skillset like Rainey but appears to be a better football player. I just hope we're able to get someone dynamic to compliment our offense, and really give us a versatile homerun hitter.

I mean, I like Quizz and all, but he's just not anything special in terms of homerun capability, big plays are great and all, but our offense floundered too often after a big Michael Turner run that he couldn't get into the endzone. I want TDs not FGs.

No point in taking a RB. Wait until next year or the year after and get one with a high pick. We don't need bodies at the position, we need Turner's successor.

However, if we're talking backs, I think Robert Turbin has a shot at being the best in this draft.

And let's get Mario... please. For us, that's a move that could make us into a (true) contender for the next five years.

Every year there are backs that shouldn't able to be but are, and the truth of the matter is, our offensive philosophy is going to change, period. We have a top flight young QB, elite WRs, and a HoF TE, we can't squander that just to run the ball because that's what we want to do.

We need the type of offense where we can run it if we want, or we can throw it when we want. Pead gives a guy who can just flat out play the position either way. I want someone we can line up back there and do either or, I do like what Quizz gives, I think Pead just gives that much more, if he's a 4th rounder then he's a great value to me, 3rd would be pushing it, not that he's not worth it, only that value for what we have in the draft to use isn't as high for me.

On top of all of that, he gives us something we do not have on this team, that every team needs. That outlet back who can take one to the house, elite offenses have that extra safety valve to inflate stats for their QBs, and to give DCs 1 more thing to plan against.

If we are set on the 4-3 for good I dont see how we dont throw big time money at Mario, barring he isnt franchised (not sure how he wouldnt be).

The offense has plenty of talent to win a SB, look at the Giants O. They def dont have more playmakers than we do. Eli is better than Ryan, but Ryan has the tools. WRs Id like to think were pretty even. RB, We have a slight edge but their OL is vastly better, that was our major weak spot aside from playcalling.

If we are set on the 4-3 for good I dont see how we dont throw big time money at Mario, barring he isnt franchised (not sure how he wouldnt be).

The offense has plenty of talent to win a SB, look at the Giants O. They def dont have more playmakers than we do. Eli is better than Ryan, but Ryan has the tools. WRs Id like to think were pretty even. RB, We have a slight edge but their OL is vastly better, that was our major weak spot aside from playcalling.

Their offensive talent is not much better than ours, they just use it much better than we do.

Eli is much better than Ryan, they have a better OL (slightly, and a better receiving core (by a lot, unless Julio and/or Roddy finds some kind of consistency). I think they are considerably better at this point. That's not even talking about defense yet.

The Giants WRs were extremely inconsistent as well, and if you look down the stretch, Julio wasn't inconsistent at all. You're looking at the world through piss colored glasses. Try a pair with a little less bitter in them.

Eli isn't vastly superior to Ryan, his offensive line helps a ton, and there's nothing on the field Eli can do that Ryan can't do, but there are things Ryan can do that Eli can't. To say he's vastly superior is simply a vast overstatement.

This negative attitude is prevalent, and shouldn't be. Atlanta has lost to the Super Bowl Champion in the playoffs 2 years in a row. We just have to get that first domino to fall and we'll be the ones with the shot at the Super Bowl Trophy.

The Giants WRs were extremely inconsistent as well, and if you look down the stretch, Julio wasn't inconsistent at all. You're looking at the world through piss colored glasses. Try a pair with a little less bitter in them.

Eli isn't vastly superior to Ryan, his offensive line helps a ton, and there's nothing on the field Eli can do that Ryan can't do, but there are things Ryan can do that Eli can't. To say he's vastly superior is simply a vast overstatement.

This negative attitude is prevalent, and shouldn't be. Atlanta has lost to the Super Bowl Champion in the playoffs 2 years in a row. We just have to get that first domino to fall and we'll be the ones with the shot at the Super Bowl Trophy.

Find me a single intelligent person who thinks Roddy and Julio were better than Cruz and Nicks this year. Good luck. And just because someone had a nice stretch and a bright future (Julio) doesn't mean he was consistent. Let's not forget some of his egregious drops.

Eli's offensive line isn't even that good. Ask Giants fans. Better than ours? Yes, but not by much. And on the rest of that, maybe you should take of your homer goggles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by d34ng3l021

Eli has a *killer* deep ball and Matt Ryan has no semblance of one. Let's the defenses play honest throughout the game a little bit.

But I think certain kind of deep balls don't require as much arm strength as they require astute timing and accuracy from the QB.

We keep waiting on the improvement on the deep ball, and it just doesn't happen. We really need to be a high YAC team (like the Pats).

Eli has a *killer* deep ball and Matt Ryan has no semblance of one. Let's the defenses play honest throughout the game a little bit.

But I think certain kind of deep balls don't require as much arm strength as they require astute timing and accuracy from the QB.

Only problem with that is when Julio came around Ryan was asked to throw more deep balls, and he did so with mediocre production, but it wasn't for lack of efficiency on the passes. Eli has been throwing horrible deep balls for years, and then developed a really good one as he got used to throwing them in the game. Expect the same from Ryan.

As far as ATL is concerned, there are 1000s of people who would agree with me that Julio and Roddy are better WRs. Did Cruz have a huge year, yep, but is he more of a threat than Roddy or Julio, nope. Nicks has developed into a real nice WR for them, and I'd put him on a level a little above Julio as far as where he is in his progression, and a little bit under Roddy.

Julio in the first half of the year played like a rookie, but in the 2nd half of the season he played like a seasoned vet. See, your problem is you hold on to early season problems, things that got better as the season went along, and you lack vision for the product on the field.

So, my homer goggles have nothing to do with my vision, I'm a Falcons fan, and that's what we all are, at least that's what we claim to be. Your hating on the Falcons doesn't make you any cooler, you're like Colin Cowherd, you like to bash on stuff and when you get one right you ride it, and try to ignore the 100s of times you're wrong on the people you bash.

So you can keep your negative outlook and call it 'realistic'. I'll keep operating from truth and positivity. You think it's cool to be negative, until you grow up and realize that people don't like to spend time around negative people, and that you can't get anything you want in life by being negative.

As of now, I'll say Eli is far ahead of Ryan, only because we're talking about a probable first ballet HOFer. If you asked this question a month ago, I would have vehemently disagreed. Hell, if you asked a year ago, people would have argued Ryan was actually better. As for Ryan's deep ball, it's not like he doesn't possess it, he is just so inconsistent with it. He is pretty damn accurate short and mid-range, but when he chucks up a deep ball right now he's 50/50. That needs to be fixed. I still think he has the ability to do it, I really can't wait to see how he looks in this new offense. I've said it before, but I think Ryan explodes this season, 4500 yards and 30 TD type of year.

Julio was really inconsistent early on, but I felt like he was one of the better receivers in the NFL towards the end of the season. Roddy White on the other hand, was inconsistent all year. Here's hoping Julio continues to improve with the added training camp and OTAs, and Roddy converts to 2010/11 form. Our offense could be scary good if utilized properly.

As of now, I'll say Eli is far ahead of Ryan, only because we're talking about a probable first ballet HOFer. If you asked this question a month ago, I would have vehemently disagreed. Hell, if you asked a year ago, people would have argued Ryan was actually better. As for Ryan's deep ball, it's not like he doesn't possess it, he is just so inconsistent with it. He is pretty damn accurate short and mid-range, but when he chucks up a deep ball right now he's 50/50. That needs to be fixed. I still think he has the ability to do it, I really can't wait to see how he looks in this new offense. I've said it before, but I think Ryan explodes this season, 4500 yards and 30 TD type of year.

Julio was really inconsistent early on, but I felt like he was one of the better receivers in the NFL towards the end of the season. Roddy White on the other hand, was inconsistent all year. Here's hoping Julio continues to improve with the added training camp and OTAs, and Roddy converts to 2010/11 form. Our offense could be scary good if utilized properly.

I can see this easily being true. I agree that Ryan is inconsistent with the deep ball because he wasn't asked to throw it enough in game situations, practice doesn't make perfect it makes permanent, and doing it in live action changes everything. I love that Ryan is our QB, and yes, a QB with 2 Super Bowl rings > 1 without any, but comparing what they had to work with, if Ryan had that defense he'd have a ring by now as well, and he's only 4 years in.

Based on potential I'd say Ryan still has a higher ceiling, but based on current, I'd say Eli is already at his ceiling, and that's higher than where Ryan is right now.

I'm not sure if iloxy is aware of this sheer number of balls dropped by Roddy this year. You can argue whatever you want (I'd take Julio in the long run too) but there is no ******* doubt Nicks and Cruz were better than Julio and Roddy this year.

I'm not sure if iloxy is aware of this sheer number of balls dropped by Roddy this year. You can argue whatever you want (I'd take Julio in the long run too) but there is no ******* doubt Nicks and Cruz were better than Julio and Roddy this year.

The number of drops by Roddy sucks, there's no doubt about it. Especially when compared to last year when it was week 15 or so before his first drop of the season.

But Cruz is a joke to me, when the ATL secondary without Grimes and shut him out of a game almost completely, he's a joke. He's nothing more than a product of some lucky bounces and missed assignments to me. Nicks is the real threat, and he had his fair share of drops too, as did Cruz.